Rose Hill Farm Silos (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the silos once stood. No visible remains exist.


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Here is an excerpt about the silos as written by Carl Sell, Jr. for the Rose Hill Civic Association:

In the very early 1950s, a Sunday drive out to the country from Washington, Alexandria and Arlington could include the pastoral scenes along Telegraph or Franconia Roads. From either road, you could see the cattle grazing on the 700-acre farm called Rose Hill owned by R.L. May, president of the Alexandria, Barcroft and Washington Bus Company (AB&W). Mr. May also invited his employees to the farm for an annual country picnic.

The silos that stored the grain to feed those cattle were standing until recently as part of the private school on May Boulevard. They were incorporated as showers for the Rose Hill Swimming and Tennis Club that opened in 1956. Heritage Academy was later located on the site. The silos were demolished to build a new housing subdivision.


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Here follows a couple of articles from the Patch Newspaper about the silos:

Are the Rose Hill Silos Historically Significant?
RHCA President Carl Sell plans to submit nomination this weekend.

Written by William Callahan, Patch Staff
Posted Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 7:31 pm ET

Rose Hill Civic Association President Carl Sell intends to settle the debate over the Rose Hill silos’ historical significance.

Sell, who has lived in Rose Hill since the early 1960s, is drawing up paperwork to nominate the locally famous silos for inclusion in Fairfax County’s Inventory of Historical Sites. The silos are part of the now empty KinderCare site on May Boulevard in Rose Hill.

Sell said he hopes to submit the nomination form to Fairfax County’s History Commission by Friday, Sept. 23, or Saturday, Sept. 24.

The nomination is the latest step in Sell’s ongoing campaign to “save” the silos from possible demolition in a proposed development of 13 single-family homes on the property owned by Claude Wheeler of .

If Sell submits the nomination by Friday or Saturday, the Fairfax County History Commission could review it during their October meeting and reach a decision as early as November 2011.

"It depends on how complete the nomination is when it’s submitted," said Laurie Turkaski, a representative from the Fairfax County office of planning and zoning, in a phone interview.

A Question of Age

Sell says he believes the silos have been in Rose Hill and Franconia for at least 100 years, but that he is not sure of their exact age.

"I remember the silos and the Rose Hill farm before there was [the suburb] Rose Hill," he said. "These silos were preserved for a reason in the 1950s."

The area was a dairy farm, according to Sell, who has been researching the silos to submit information to the county.

"The silos were used for the May dairy farm and they needed a place to store the grain to feed the cows," he said.

'Significant' Doesn't Mean 'Saved'

But a place on the county’s historic inventory won’t necessarily put the silos out of harm's way. “Being listed on the inventory of historic sites doesn’t impose any restrictions on the property," Turkaski said.

According to the County's website: "At least 60 of these [historically designated] sites have been demolished since the creation of the Inventory. Inclusion on the Inventory is an honorary designation, and does not impose restrictions or limits as to what an owner can do with his property."

Turkaski and Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay said Wheeler is pursuing a by-right development within the property’s current zoning regulations. "It’s already zoned and planned for single-family homes," McKay said. "It doesn't go through a citizen process."

A Neighborhood Staple

Shirley Bennington has lived on May Boulevard in Rose Hill for about 45 years and can see the silos from her front yard. “We’re going to miss them because they’ve always been there,” she said. “They’re a part of the neighborhood.”

Sell said he knew Wheeler can do what he wants with his property. "We’re not objecting to him building on his property," he said. "He has every right to do that. We are objecting to him not preserving the silos."

Wheeler told Patch he did not seem to think there was a controversy over the silos but declined further comment.


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Here follows another article from the Patch Newspaper about the silos:

Saving Silos: Carl Sell Attempts to Preserve Past in His D.C. Suburb
A developer wants to demolish relics of former farm community.

Written by Tracy Bank, Neighbor
Posted Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 2:28 pm ET

In an age when Washington D.C. suburbs resemble small cities, traffic snarls in the middle of the day and townhouses line crowded side streets, Rose Hill has stood the test of time as an oasis of green lawns and family homes. And Carl Sell wants to keep it that way.

As president of , Sell said he feels the history of Rose Hill and the surrounding area is just as important as neighborhood beautification and structural upkeep. The land on which he has lived for more than 50 years was part of a large agricultural and gravel mining operation. Before that, it was the site of Colonel John Singleton Mosby’s Confederate raid on Rose Hill in 1863.

Sell’s community involvement runs deep in Rose Hill. A retired sports editor for the Washington Star and baseball fan, Sell was a coach and eventually president of the local Pioneer Baseball League. Using that experience, he helped start a basketball league and football league complete with cheerleaders.

His league work with former led him to a position on the county’s Park Authority where he helped come to fruition. He later led the county’s Planning Commission for 20 years, helping to plan and develop Kingstowne, a 5,300- home community near Rose Hill.

Today Sell is part of a movement in Rose Hill to save . “The silos depict the agricultural nature of Rose Hill and Franconia up until the boom which took place after World War II,” he said.

The property on which the silos stand is privately owned, and currently in planning stages for the development of 13 homes on the five-acre site. The plans do not include keeping the silos.

“I recognize [the developer's] legal rights to develop the property,” said Sell, who filed nomination paperwork in September to include the silos in Fairfax County’s Inventory of Historical Sites to help save them from demolition. “But I would hope that he would incorporate the silos…I think it’s important to preserve them.”

Sell’s dedication to the history of his community also led him to become involved in the local Franconia history museum where he serves as a volunteer. “In order to preserve for the future, you have to understand the past,” claimed Sell.

As a retired senior living out his golden years in Rose Hill, does he ever see himself slowing down?

“No, I gotta keep moving,” laughed Sell. “If you don’t keep moving, you’ll shrivel up and blow away, and I’m not going to let that happen.”